Author: Sam Farkas

Few mediums have been as entraining and enlightening for musicians as the internet. The access to sheet music, video tutorials, and countless recordings are all at your fingertips. While YouTube remains both entertaining and helpful, Instagram has really become a valuable platform for guitarists, regardless of wether you are sharing content or gleaning some inspiration from others. The tight time limitation of Instagram is perfect for readily digestible and motivation guitar nuggets. In no particular order, here are five accounts you should be following.

1. ProGuitar | proguitarofficial

Curated by Swedish finger style wizard Emil Ernebro (@emilernebroguitar), this account offers clear, concise, useful, and oh-so-tasty guitar licks that work well in country, jazz, and blues settings, but can easily be worked into any idiom. Beyond the fantastic playing, Emil’s earnest and genuine interest in sharing his craft is inspiring.

A post shared by ProGuitar (@proguitarofficial) on Oct 24, 2018 at 8:55am PDT

2. Josh Meader | joshmeader22

Personally, I love guitar players that don’t play like a “typical” guitar player, but rather they make their guitars sound like horns or pianos. Josh’s effortless playing and flawless transcription of sophisticated horn solos is truly remarkable.

3. Jack Ruch | @jackruchguitar

Jack Ruch has chops, but more importantly he has taste. Everything Jack plays is musical, lyrical, and honest. It’s important to find your own voice as a musician, and it’s clear that Jack has found his. I am consistently delighted by his blues, jazz, and soul playing.

4. Jens Larson | jenslarsenjazz

Beyond being a highly proficient guitar player, Jens is wildly prolific. Nearly every day he posts a like complete with harmonic analysis. If you are an aspiring jazz guitar player, or simply desire a more sophisticated understanding of the instrument, follow Jens. Bonus: his YouTube videos are fantastic, and highly informative.

5. Soundslice | soundslice_music

Last but certainly not least, Soundslice is a must for all musicians. The platform combines traditional notation, tablature, audio, and video. The musical transcriptions are crowd sourced and distributed amongst theirs users and subscribers. You can find highly accurate transcriptions of the classics, as well as original collaborations by musicians from opposite sides of the globe.

Drop 2 chords: A Crash Course

The world of harmony is a vast and beautiful place, with nearly limitless possibilities to explore; one is only limited by their creativity and their ear’s ability. Many players often ask themselves where to start on their chordal journey. You’ve got that G and C chord under your fingers and you know there must be more out there. But where? Drop 2 chords are the perfect place to start.

Let’s forgo the explanation about the naming convention and construction of these chords, as that information is detailed in the video.

Let’s talk about why these chords are important. Drop 2 cords allow you to easily play chord inversions, or the order of notes within the chord itself. Do you want to have a certain chord tone in the bass? How about the melody? No problem – just use the desired inversion. This concept is critical for chord-melody playing.

Secondly, drop 2 chords are incredibly efficient because the use four adjacent strings (1 through 4, 2 through 5, or 3 through 6), making them ideal for rhythm playing all over the neck.

Develop your ear & your understanding of the guitar fretboard

Lastly, drop 2 chords are important because they develop your ear and your understanding of the fretboard. Soon you’ll be to hear different chord inversions and know all of the notes in that chord regardless of string set or position. As such, modify the notes of a single chord allow you to quickly create all chord qualities (major, dominant, minor, diminished, etc.).

What are you waiting for? Grab your guitar and start exploring this important concept. Have fun! For more information about Drop 2 Chords, guitar lessons in our Nashville studio or online lessons, please contact me at [email protected]

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I'm a singer/songwriter and a freshman Songwriting major at Belmont University. I looked into taking guitar lessons after realizing that I didn't know enough theory or enough guitar to keep up with others I wrote with. In just the few short months of lessons, Shane has gone above and beyond to help "fill in the gaps" of my guitar/ theory knowledge. He's excellent guitarist and teacher, and has helped to not only improve my playing, but also my songwriting and my confidence in music theory. Highly recommended!

Shane has been teaching my elementary age girls for a year. They have made incredible advances in reading and playing music. His method is relaxed but systematic and organized. They are excited to go to lessons and excited to practice, and they are playing all music genres relevant to the lesson that is taught. What keeps them really hooked is that he peppers music into the lessons that they choose, and it really rounds out the experience. He is patient and can really draw out the student. The lessons are not cookie cutter, but very tailored to the needs and skills of the student. I can't say enough good things about Green Hills Guitar Studio.

I recently decided to return to playing the guitar after a "break" of over 3 decades. I chose to begin lessons with Shane after researching options. I have been very pleased with Shane's skills and patience! He really wants the learning experience to be enjoyable and enriching. I would recommend Shane Lamb to anyone of any age and any skill level.